


toxic like you (lively like me)

by piraterea



Series: Clarke x Murphy [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Met on the Ark Station (The 100), BAMF Clarke Griffin, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Lots of sarcasm, One Shot, Protective John Murphy (The 100) - Character, The Author Regrets Nothing, clarke being a delinquent, clarphy - Freeform, everyone shocked as shit, he wasn't ready, stuck in isolation together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piraterea/pseuds/piraterea
Summary: Clarke Griffin and John Murphy are an unlikely pairing. Anyone who had a single brain cell knew that like 1+1. So when 100 delinquents are sent to Earth and they see the two reuniting like two lost lovers… explanations are in order.Or: Clarke and Murphy were in isolation together and fell in love. And nobody has a single clue about it. So when everyone sees them acting like a couple on the ground, people lose their shit.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/John Murphy
Series: Clarke x Murphy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001889
Comments: 21
Kudos: 123





	1. On the Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke Griffin and John Murphy find each other again

Clarke feels the rocket rush to a sudden stop and a loud creaking noise come from the 100 year old ship when everything settles. “No machine hum” a voice notes and Clarke struggles with her buckle to try and get out. “Clarke, what are you doing?” Wells Jaha says from beside her and she doesn’t answer him. He is the last person she would answer to today. But she had to find him. _What if he didn’t make it on?_ A voice tries to tell her but she shoves it down to the bottom of her chest with the rest of her negative emotions.

Shoving through people crowding around the door, she walks up to the lever on the wall. _Acting as if it’s gonna fucking open itself._ She goes to push it down and a strong hand stops her. She turns, eyebrows already raised in _don’t fucking touch me unless you wanna lose a hand_ fashion. Standing before her was a man about a foot taller than her. His skin was surprisingly tanner than most, considering we’ve been on a space station for the past 100 years. His hair, which was probably usually curly and stuck out everywhere, was gelled and combed excruciatingly back. What confused her most about him was the guard jacket wrapped around his form. Why would they send a guard down with us? That’s not really the Ark’s style, to send down someone who isn’t expendable.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asks and she rolls her eyes.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting out of this place. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life stuck in this dropship” she says and now it’s his turn to roll his eyes. But he doesn’t, he just smirks.

“Brave princess. The air could be _toxic._ ” He says mockingly as if he were talking to a five year old.

She pushes his hand away and nods her head in the direction of the large door holding them in. “If the air is toxic, then we’re all dead anyway” she says back, copying his tone. Except she really means it because this guy probably has the same amount of brain cells as the guy who blew up Earth the first time. As soon as he finally moves his hand, she pulls the lever down without hesitation and the doors open to a blinding light.

At first she is nervous, had her prediction been wrong? Did she just kill them all? Will she never see him again?

Then the light dies down and standing before them was a forest of greens and a blue sky. A smile erupts on her face as she gets her bearings. Earth was safe. _They were safe._ From the chancellor, the guard, and the Arks stupid laws. Earth was right here and survivable. A girl that was previously talking to the guard steps up and runs onto the ground. She feels the grass beneath her shoes and Clarke smiles when she screams out, “We’re back bitches!”.

Everyone runs out, screaming and cheering. Celebrating because they’re free. Clarke runs out with them, but wasn’t celebrating. Not without him. She searches through people and starts to feel anxious. Did he not make it on? Was he kept behind on the Ark? She almost gives up until she sees a head of hair come from behind the dropship with a few other people. She smiles widely. He made it on, he was here. She watches him and can tell he’s looking for her too. She doesn’t know why, but that makes her feel happier then it should.

She runs up behind him and jumps on his back. He groans but she can hear the relief in his tone when he recognizes who it is. “What the hell?” Nathan Miller shouts when he sees the Ark Princess jumping onto John Murphy. “Calm down, Miller. Don’t gotta worry about her” Murphy says and pulls her off his back. He turns to Clarke and holds her face in his hands.

“Hey, Griffin” he whispers.

“Hi”.

“Almost thought I lost you there” he says and she nods, “I could say the same”. She doesn’t have to turn to the group of delinquents standing before them to know what they are thinking. What the fuck is going on and were there eyes working correctly? “Did you have a good ride?” He asks her casually and she smirks.

“Well, I was unconscious for most of the ride, but yeah it was ok. Now are you going to kiss me or not?” She asks and he gives her a sly grin. “Don’t gotta ask me twice” he mutters and brings her lips to his. She laughs softly against his lips and wraps her fingers around his hair. “You need a shower” she mutters against his lips when she feels how greasy his hair is. He finally laughs loudly, pulling away from her.

“Sunshine, how in hell could I going to take a shower down here?” He asks her and she shrugs. “I don’t know. But I bet you’ll find out” she says and he rolls his eyes, smirking at her words.

“Murphy, what the hell is going on?” Miller asks and Murphy turns to them. “Oh, yeah. This is Clarke Griffin, my… what are we? Isolation kind of confuses that” he asks her, turning back to face her. She shrugs, “I don’t know. What do you want to be?” She asks casually.

“Wanna be my girlfriend, princess?”.

She raises an eyebrow, “Yeah, sure. Sounds fun. We’ve only been together for about a year. Let’s put labels on it now”. Murphy grins and turns back to the group of delinquents, unstirred by the looks of disbelief, shock, and confusion on the delinquents around them. “Ok, then yeah. This is Clarke Griffin, my girlfriend of, as she said, about a year” he says.

“Dude, this girl is Ark royalty. She’s probably just slumming it with you for some rebellious phase against mommy and daddy” Dax says and Murphy turns to him, a glare directed at him.

“Shut the fuck up, Dax. You have no idea what you’re talking about”.

“And by the way, just a fun fact, there’s not really a daddy to rebel against. Mini Jaha got him floated so that option isn’t really in the books” Clarke mutters sarcastically and Murphy nods in her direction.

“So we’re gonna go. See you later?” Murphy says and walks away with Clarke without getting an answer.

“Did we land on Earth or some fucking alternate dimension?” Miller mutters and walks away with Dax.

\- - -

The sun was setting and they didn’t know who, but someone set up a large bonfire in the middle of what was going to be camp. Clarke could already see the guard from the ship, who she later learned was named Bellamy, ordering people around building the tents from the ship. Clarke and Murphy were sitting by the fire, with the rest of the delinquents who didn’t want to work for the rest of the night. After all, they were free. They could enjoy one night without work before they were ordered around again.

Murphy was sitting against a tree and Clarke was laying in-between his legs, laying her head on his chest, facing the fire. He was running his fingers through her hair and she was sharpening a homemade knife she had torn from the ship. It was just a piece of metal from the side of the ship, so it was dented on a few sides, but that could be fixed easily. She was trying to make sure the hunk of metal would actually puncture something if she used it.

“Life is going to be so weird on the ground” Murphy mutters, staring at the fire and she nods against his chest, turning to face him and away from the roaring heat. “Well, we’ll adjust, we’ll have to” she says and yawns.

“You’re tired?” He teases and she rolls her eyes, laying her head on his chest and tangling her legs with his. She sets the knife on the ground, deciding she could keep trying to make it damageable tomorrow. “Yes, I have to adjust to having to walk so much. We were stuck in a small metal box for over a year with literally nothing to do, so…” she mutters, closing her eyes, wishing they could stay like this forever. She’d be fine with that.

“Now that’s not completely true. There wasn’t _nothing_ to do.” He implies jokingly and she laughs softly into his arms as he wraps them around her form.

“I think your friends are still a little shocked to see me with you” she yawns again and feels him nodding.

“That’s an understatement, princess, everyone is shocked. They know who you are and who I am. No one is going to exactly dismiss that like it’s nothing” he says, playing with a strand of her golden locks. She shrugs lazily, not wanting to move. “Well, they can get over it. They weren’t stuck with us in isolation, so they don’t get to judge who I decide to be with”.

Murphy is silent for a while and Clarke almost falls asleep before she hears him say something again. “Do you think we would still be together if we weren’t in isolation together?” He asks and she can practically hear how loudly he’s thinking.

She sighs and sits up, knowing she wasn’t going to fall asleep now. “No, John Murphy. I don’t think we would be together if we weren’t in isolation together. You would probably be your asshole self when we land and then slowly we would grow to respect each other and then become like best friends. We would never be romantic. But we are now. So that’s all I want to focus on. I don’t want to get stressed over something that could have happened when I can be happy with what did happen” she says and he nods, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

She always knew how to give him an answer that would calm down the problem he seemed to be having.

She nods as well and lays back down again. “You can sleep now. I’ll keep my brain down for a while.” He mutters, knowing how tired she truly was. She just repositions herself against his warm body, too exhausted to give him a verbal answer. She falls asleep to his fingers running soothingly through her hair and the fire reflecting off her eyelids until all she sees is black.


	2. The SkyBox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke Griffin and John Murphy meet for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided I am going to alternate chapters between on the the ground and on the Ark during solitary. So this chapter is on the Ark. The next will be on the ground. And so on.

Clarke wakes on a cold metal floor and tries to figure out where she is. The last thing she remembers is the harsh hands of the guard seizing her and a sharp pain in her shoulder before everything went dark. She takes a look at her surroundings and decides that she must be in solitary.

“Welcome to the land of the living, princess” a voice says and she jumps up in shock. Since when did they put more than one person in isolation together? She turns to the voice and sees John Murphy. She didn’t know him very well, but she had a few classes with him. They didn’t try to get into fights with each other at eye contact, but if they could avoid each other, they would.

“Murphy?” She asks confused and he nods.

“Yep, and I thought I might be able to celebrate my solitary on my own. But then you’re thrown in here. What? Wanted an adrenaline rush? Rebel against mommy and daddy?” He taunts and she glares at him, ignoring his comment. Ignoring that in fact, her father was now dead. He seems to realize something was going on with her because he frowns.

“Why are you here?” He asks her, no longer joking.

“It doesn’t matter now” she says and he rolls his eyes. She pulls herself up onto the cot that sits on the wall opposite of Murphy. “Why?” He questions and she glares at him.

“Because then you will just end up getting killed as well. Least I could do is keep one person alive if I can’t save everyone” she mutters and he frowns in confusion. _What in hell is she talking about?_ “I hate to break it to you, Princess, but I’m going to get floated anyway. I torched the arresting officer’s quarters”.

She gives him a look and he nods. “I know, I know. How did you never know I was so awesome?” He says teasingly and she rolls her eyes, “Seriously, Griffin. What did you do?” He asks again, more serious than she had ever seen him.

She studies his expression, well aware they were meeting one another eye to eye. He didn’t turn down her gaze, just stared back with the same contemplation and insistence. She finally nods and closes her eyes, laying her head back on the freezing wall.

“The Ark is dying. The oxygen supply is going down and in a few months we will all be dead” she lets out a breath and watches him process the information.

“Damn, Griffin. I’ve been in here with you all of 10 minutes and you’ve already told me I’m going to die” he huffs and she gives him a look.

“It’s cool. I was going to die anyway. What better way then to bring everyone down with me?” He laughs slightly, but he looks worried.

“Don’t you have any family out there?” She asks and he shakes his head.

“Dad was floated for trying to save me, my mother drank herself dead” he mutters and looks at her, “What about you? Don’t you want to save all of your family?” He asks and she sighs, looking out the small porthole window at the burning planet beneath them.

“My dad was floated because he tried to tell the Ark’s people about the oxygen problem. And my mom… well you don’t really see her in here trying to save me” she mutters sarcastically and he laughs softly and she looks to him, question in her eyes.

“Welcome to the life of having no one care about you, sunshine. It… sucks” he says and she shakes her head. “There’s always someone who cares, Murphy” she argues and he just shrugs, making her annoyed.

“I mean, I don’t want you to die. That must mean I care” she says and he looks up from the window she had previously been looking at to look at her. He seemed to be questioning whether she really meant what she said. “Thanks, Griffin” he finally says, using the serious tone he had rarely used that day. She nods and glances at the burning planet beneath them.

“We’re probably going to be stuck here together for a while. I would rather have us as friends then enemies” she explains and he raises an eyebrow.

“I mean, I’m helpful with other _stuff_ as well, you know?” He implies, his teasing tone not escaping him fully and she rolls her eyes, scoffing at his suggestion.

“Really, Murphy? Very mature” she says and he laughs.

“Griffin, calm yourself. We are 16 years old. We don’t have to be mature yet. We don’t have to mature until we have to get a boring job or buy ourselves boring homes. But we don’t have to worry about any of that yet” he says and she contemplates his words. She had to be stuck with John Murphy, of all people, until she eventually dies. She knew she was going to change, what worried her was, would it be for the best… or the worst?

“Fine, I’ll chill out. What do we do now?” She asks and he looks her up and down, then shrugs.

“Whatever we want. That’s the whole point of chilling out, Griffin” he mocks and she rolls her eyes.

“I’ve never really done this before. So, mind my un-calmness” she mutters and he smirks. “Ok, then I’ll help you”.

As days turn into weeks, Murphy teaches Clarke how to chill. And in return, Clarke teaches Murphy the meaning of caring for someone. He didn’t realize it but he saw her differently after their first day together. He still messed with her, but there was no longer resent or anger towards her in his tone. And she found herself wanting to talk to him when she woke up or when she was bored. He was growing to care for her, at least enough to where he would be upset if she died.

He told her this one day and she scoffed loudly at his words. “Thanks, Murphy. If I ever die, I will be comforted by the fact that you will be “ _upset_ ”” she teases and he rolled his eyes. But it was true, it may have taken a while to let his walls down, but he slowly let them fall.  
  
About two months into isolation, a rigid, freezing cold swept through the room once the lights went out for curfew. He was confused as to what was going on, but Clarke knew exactly what was happening. “They’re losing oxygen already. They’re turning off the heat at nighttime now” she informed him. About a week into this new situation, they decide to put their cots together and share the two small blankets they were given.

“Gonna fall in love with me now, John?” She asked him, knowing he hated being called John, and he chuckles. “You wish, Griffin” he says, knowing she hated being called Griffin. At least, that’s what she told him. But she secretly liked the name. Everyone called her Clarke, so it was kind of nice being called something else for a change. Like she was becoming someone else already. She supposed she was, she knew she wasn’t the same as she used to be. No one truly was after being in the Skybox.

Seeking the small comfort of having a warm body close and more space under the blanket, Murphy pulled her close to him so they spooned under the blanket. “Don’t go getting any ideas, Murphy” she yawned, already falling asleep, and deciding she liked this new sleeping arrangement. He hummed a small laugh and shook his head. “Same goes to you” he mutters and they fall asleep like that. Two freezing convicts desperate for some form of warmth.

The sleeping arrangement went like that from then on. They never made it any bigger than it had to be, occasionally arguing about hoarding the blanket or the other’s feet being freezing. But they never made it into a big deal, at least not verbally. Every day when the single meal was given to them, they sat next to one another and just talked. They didn’t speak about their life outside of the small metal room, not yet. They just rambled about random stuff, the kind of stuff you forget the next day but seems important in the moment.

Murphy wasn’t sure what to do when he heard her crying when he woke up. He was never good with tears. When his father died, it was as if he couldn’t do anything. His mother told him he couldn’t cry because he knew deep down it was his fault. But when he watched his father get floated, he couldn’t cry and he couldn’t move. He was frozen, watching his father’s form slowly disappear from his view. When he saw his mother crying while she was drunk out of her mind or high on pills, he didn’t know what to do either. He didn’t want to comfort her. She was constantly telling him how much it was his fault she was like this. So why should he comfort her?

So seeing Clarke crying made his stomach twist. As much as he could see, she was strong. So it was a strange sound, her crying. Unsure of what to do, he sits up and goes to sit beside her, as she had moved off the bed and against the wall. He sits beside her and pulls his knees to his chest.

He doesn’t say anything, as he’s unsure of what could possibly help. Saying things like “you’ll be okay” or “Everything will work out”, because that wasn’t true and he would just be lying to her. They were currently in the Skybox waiting to be eligible of age to be floated. Nothing about their situation was _ok._ So he just sits with her and lets her cry. She doesn’t try to say anything or explain, but when she eventually calms down he turns to her.

  
“Are you going to be ok?” He asks her quietly and she looks at him grateful that he didn’t ask “Are you ok?”. Which was a no brainer to him. Duh, she wasn’t ok. Why would he ask something that was obvious. So she just nods and lays her head gently on his shoulder. “Yeah, eventually”.

When they woke up the next morning, Murphy didn’t mention the night before and she thanked him silently. They went along with their day as if nothing had happened. Because that was what worked for them.

“So what do you want to do today?” She would him when a guard comes in with food like they always do at exactly 3:19. At least, that’s what her dad’s broken watch always seemed to say when they came. But the watch never moved, she just imagined it did. It was better than the morbid truth, that they were never truly escaping this place. That this was the last place they would ever see, before they eventually carried away and sent floating through space.

“Whatever you want, Griffin”.


	3. On The Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! I'm not dead, and neither is this story!!
> 
> So sorry it has taken me this long to update, it shouldn't take this long for any of the remaining chapters.

Clarke is unsure of how to feel when they decide to split up. It would be the first time they were separated in a year. “We’re fine. You need to stay behind and help out. They need every ounce of strength they can get to keep the order. And I know how to work a map. We are going to go to Mount Weather, make sure it is safe and then come back for everyone else. Maybe a two-day trip” she says to Murphy and he nods.  
  
“Yeah, it’s just weird. Everything about this is weird. Being on the ground and not seeing metal everywhere you look” he mutters and she nods. “Ok, we need to go. I’ll see you soon” she says and he pulls her into a kiss. She kisses him back, not caring for the gaping delinquents who still didn’t know they were together, or the people who didn’t agree with it. 

“I should go” Clarke sighs into his mouth. He hums in response.

“Yeah, you should” Murphy replies. But neither pull away, instead, he pulls her face closer and kisses her deeper. She cups his jaw and presses her lips against her own.

She kisses him back, knowing there was a chance what they are doing is dangerous. That either one of them could get hurt. They had no idea what could be waiting out there for them. But they also needed to take that chance if it meant there could be something good at the end of this road.

“What if there’s nothing at the end of the road? What if it’s a dead-end?” she whispers. He shakes his head, “We won’t think about that yet. And if does come to that, well we’ll go from there. But right now, you need to go” he murmurs. She nods and pulls out of his grasp. She jogs away quickly before she regrets leaving. And she doesn’t look back. She goes to the edge of the woods where everyone else was and she nods to them. “Ok, let’s go,” Octavia says and they start walking. She doesn’t look back one last time. And she knows, in the back of her head, that he doesn’t either.

Octavia runs up beside her and looks at her with interest. “I don’t know much about the people of the Ark, but I do know that you are probably on the higher tier of the power pyramid. So why are you with someone like John Murphy?” She asks and Clarke is about to start something before realizing the girl wasn’t insulting her, she was genuinely curious. 

So, she just shrugs, “I don’t know. We were stuck in isolation together and we helped one another. And I guess we just… clicked,” she says and Octavia nods.

“I want that someday. That click. I can guess it feels pretty good” she says and Clarke nods. “Yeah, it does”.

They walk for what feels like forever. The amount of forest they see all lumps and blurs together into one big pile of green. But it never fails to amaze them. They are on the ground. It was never something that would ever be even considered for another hundred years. They were sure the same metal gray walls that followed them everywhere on the Ark was the only thing they would see for the rest of their lives. But here they are.

“So, why were you all arrested?” Jasper asks the group and Clarke and Octavia turn to them. “Illegal Spacewalk,” Finn says and winks to Clarke. She rolls her eyes, quickly ignoring his attempts at flattery.

“For being born. My brother tried to hide me, but it didn’t turn out that great. You?” Octavia mutters. Jasper side-eyes Monty before continuing.

“Medicine is not the only plant in the garden if you know what I mean. And someone forgot to replace our stash” he says. “And someone already apologized a million times!” Monty snaps back.

“Well, all is forgiven now. We are on the ground and free at last! What about you, Clarke? How did you get here? I heard you were in isolation for an entire year!” Jasper asks. Clarke shakes her head.

“I wasn’t entirely alone. I had Murphy” she smiles. Finn jogs up beside her. “So, that was how you two ended up together. You were stuck in isolation together” he says. Clarke rolls her eyes. “That is exactly what I just said, yes”.

“Cool, cool” he grins. “We need to keep moving. The sooner we find this bunker, the sooner we can get back” Monty changes the subject, and Clarke nods. “Agreed. I would rather not find out the hard way what hangs out here at night time.” Jasper agrees, pulling his leg out of a puddle of mud.

When they reach a lake, it was heaven. The water was glistening and the sun felt amazing after being shaded by trees for the past couple of hours. “There shouldn’t be a lake here,” Clarke says, looking at the map with Monty.

“Yeah, well there is. So, let’s have some fun” Octavia laughs and starts to pull her shirt off to swim.

Jasper’s mouth gapes open in surprise, “I love Earth” he sighs happily. Clarke rolls her eyes and elbows him in the side before watching Octavia jump in the water.

Everything was going ok for the time being. Octavia was swimming, Monty was messing with Jasper over his crush on her, and Clarke was sitting with Finn in the sand, talking. For the first time, they felt completely free. If only it would last.

Jasper is the one who sees it first. He stands quickly from the spot in the sand he sat in and pointed to the water. “Hey! Octavia!” he yells, frantic to get her attention. Clarke and Monty stand as well, Finn following behind. That’s when they see it too.

“Oh my god. Octavia, get out of the water!” Clarke shouts. A large snake-like figure was approaching her feet at the bottom of the lake.

Without thought, Clarke’s mind goes into survival mode and every part of her brain was flying by to save Octavia. It isn’t until Octavia is safely out of the water that she finds herself again. She runs across the bridge that she stood on to the other side of the lake where Octavia was lying, a small gash bleeding out onto the stone floor.

“Clarke, I’m ok. Really. I’ll be fine” Octavia says through grit teeth as Clarke puts her leg into a tourniquet.

“I know you are. But I’d rather be safe than have Bellamy come at me” Clarke mutters and pulls Octavia up, “Jasper, help me out. We need to get back to camp. We’ll have to go to the bunker later”. Jasper comes up beside Octavia and pulls her arm over his shoulders.

“Come on, let’s put some pep in your step” he groans as they start walking. They still had a while to walk.

A single day goes by, Octavia slowing them down, and it’s around the next afternoon that they decide to take a small break. Jasper and Clarke set the sleeping Octavia up against the trunk of a tree and then sit down on the grassy Earth floor.

“You think we’ll be at camp by dark?” Monty asks, glancing at the map in Finn’s hands. “I hope so” Clarke mutters absentmindedly. Jasper smirks and nudges Clarke’s shoulder. “Why? Can’t wait to see Lover Boy?” he teases and Clarke scoffs, shaking her head.

“Shut up,” she says, but grins nonetheless.

“So, tell me, is Murphy one of those hopeless romantics? And… cuddly?” Jasper laughs. He had known Murphy, they had been in the same class on the Ark, and thinking of him as being anything but cruel was hilarious.

“Yeah, nice try. I won’t hurt his ego that much.” Clarke smiles.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. We already know you’ve got him whipped. We saw you two by the fire” Monty adds in.

“You did?” Clarke frowns at him, who had an amused smile on his face as well.

“Uh, yeah. Everyone did. John Murphy, the ruthless juvenile, and Clarke Griffin, the Ark’s princess, together? Duh, everyone saw that” Jasper nods.

“Whatever, has your gossip sesh gotten you all ready to walk? Because I would like to be back by dark. We’ve already been gone an extra day than I said” Clarke says and they all nod.

“Come on. Let’s go” Finn nods and helps pull Octavia up, “Don’t worry, I’ll hold her for a while” he reassures Clarke who tries to take up her side of Octavia’s body once again. Hesitantly, Clarke nods and lets him. Her arms felt like wet spaghetti and her brain was running one million miles an hour. Her first week on Earth had not treated her kindly. But everybody was feeling this way, she couldn’t complain any more than anybody else could. And besides, complaining didn’t get the work done.

When the moon starts to go down, that’s when the small pains that people had tried to hide had come out. You could hear a small wince from Finn when holding Octavia or from Monty when he tripped over a root that was invisible in the dark, or from Jasper who “accidentally” ran into a tree. But Clarke was pretty sure he did that on purpose, just to add some lightness and humor to the situation. It helped and she silently thanked him for that.

When they started to see the lights of the fire of camp, it had to be at least 2 or 3 in the morning. Jasper and Clarke were practically holding each other up to keep from falling asleep right then and there. Finn was still holding Octavia, but he seemed wide awake, almost scared that he would start to get tired and drop her. Monty was walking up beside Finn and trying his best to follow the map, but in the dark, it was practically useless. 

“Clarke! Look!” Jasper says, shoving her shoulder. She looks up to where he points and would give a shout of excitement if she wasn’t exhausted out of her own body.

“Thank whatever gods there are. I can’t wait to take a 2-month nap” Finn groans and Monty nods. “Yeah, what he said” he grins and their pace speeds up to get to the gate.

“Clarke, we should probably go to the dropship. There could be some medicine or something there to help Octavia” Finn says as Jasper yells to the people behind the gate.

“Yeah, probably. I’ll run ahead, hold of Bellamy as much as I can” she nods and when the gates start to open, she squeezes through and heads towards the 30-foot dropship ahead of her. Even in the dark, it was nearly impossible to miss. She runs in through the tarp and starts to search the many boxes.

-

When Murphy starts hearing yells about the gate being opened, the first thing he thinks of is Clarke. They had been gone an extra day and now was the only time the gate had been opened. He jumps up from his spot at the fire and jogs towards the growing crowd of delinquents. Just barely ahead, he sees the mop of hair that was no doubt, Finn. She also saw him carrying a feminine body.

Even though he couldn’t see who it was, his heart dropped. Clarke’s golden blonde locks were nowhere to be seen, but everybody else was accounted for. Except for Bellamy’s kid sister, who was also nowhere to be seen. Murphy shoves through the crowd. Many people exclaim at him, but he continues walking. He knew Clarke could defend herself well, there was never a doubt about that. But still, this was the first group of people on Earth in nearly 100 years. No one knew or could prepare for what could possibly be down here.

When he finally gets through, his heart’s rate slows slightly. The body in his arms was Octavia, but Clarke was nowhere to be seen. Finn was shoving through people and heading towards the dropship, so Murphy goes to Jasper.

“Hey, Jasper! Where is Clarke? Is she ok?” he asks. Jasper squints up at him as if he had no idea who he even was. “Umm… I don’t know. She was with us and…” he mutters, but a long yawn cuts him off. Murphy groans. Of course, the kid was tired out of his mind. That was perfect.

He turns around and runs after Finn towards the dropship. He couldn’t find the guy anywhere, but he kept going towards the ship ahead of him. His greatest fear at this moment was that something had happened to Clarke. She was all he had for the past year. Losing her was not an option.

Murphy hustles through the crowds of kids throughout the camp and finally makes it to the dropship. He pushes the tarp out of the way and goes in. It was dark, but he could just make out the outlines of other people. But he would recognize Clarke’s blonde hair anywhere. And she was nowhere to be seen, but Finn was.

“Hey, Space Boy. Where is Clarke?” he asks, and Finn turns to him. Octavia was now awake and Bellamy was fussing over her like a typical big brother.

“She went to find you. I think she was heading towards the fire. But she’s fine” he says, and Murphy sighs in relief. She was ok. Of course she was, she’s Clarke Griffin.

He heads back outside and in the light of the fire, he just managed to spot her blonde head. Her hair seemed to be glowing in front of the light that emitted from the flames.

He jogs up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. “That better be Murphy” she snaps and he scoffs. “You didn’t recognize me? Harsh, Griffin” he smiles and she turns towards him, also grinning.

“Hey there,” Murphy says. She rolls her eyes, “That’s all. A simple “hey there”? Fine” she mock scoffs.

“Well then tell me, what would you like” he smirks.

“Aw, Murphy! You are a softie!” Jasper yells from the other side of the fire. They both turn towards his voice and Murphy gives him the finger, still keeping an arm around Clarke’s waist.

Clarke laughs and pulls his hand down. “He’s not wrong, you know” she teases. He scrunches his nose and shakes his head.  
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever” he mutters and pulls her into a kiss. She smirks against his lips but kisses him back anyway. Earth would probably be rough for a while. But they would make it out fine, as long as they had the other. Then it would be worth it.


	4. The SkyBox

A month had gone by. A month of doing absolutely nothing. That wasn’t even a metaphor or exaggerating. They had actually done a whole a whole lot of nothing. All they did every day was sit against a wall, talking about random shit they wouldn’t remember the next day. Or they would sleep, that was a main occurrence for them, sleeping. Clarke would cover the walls with her charcoal drawings and art. Murphy would never complain about it outwardly, but the charcoal always ended up staining his clothes.

  
But it wasn’t like he had any connection to the clothing. It was all the same to him.

One morning, Murphy had woken up to Clarke still asleep beside him. He would never admit it before she did, but he liked this sleeping arrangement. Not just because he had a warm body next to him in the cold, but because it was Clarke. He never enjoyed caring for people, because it meant if they had left him he would be affected by it. So, he was not very happy with Clarke right now. Because he refused to care about people. Yet somehow, she had managed to worm her way into his head.

He sat up, waking Clarke up by doing so, as the cots were very creaky, and stretches his arms. “What time does that broken watch say?” He mutters and she scowls at him. “Sorry” he mutters. She just shakes her head and sits up.

“It’s 5:10” she says and he nods, looking out to see Earth still revolving through the small circle window attached to the roof. “Do you ever think Earth will be survivable?” He asks and she stands behind him, looking out the window. She lays her chin on his shoulder and shrugs, “I don’t know. I sure hope so. Imagine what the grass feels like, or the trees” she says and he smiles slightly.

“Is it a bright green, or darker?” He asks her and she shakes her head. “Sometimes it’s both”. He grins and turns to her.

“I want to see it. I want to see the ground, someday” he says and she smiles. “Someday, we will.” She whispers and he nods. “I like this side of you” she murmurs and he turns. “What? Happy?” He frowns and she shakes her head.

“No. Hopeful”.

He shrugs, “Hope is all I have left” he whispers. She shakes her head again, “No, you have me. And I’m not going anywhere anytime soon” she says and he frowns. “Pinky promise?” He asks, holding out his pinky finger and she rolls her eyes.

“I pinky promise that I will not leave you, John Murphy” she says, hooking her finger with his, and he finally, truly smiles. “Good, and I pinky promise that I will not leave you, Clarke Griffin”. They shake on it and she grins.

“Ok, what do you want to do today?” She asks and he shrugs. “There’s nothing _to_ do. It’s stare at a wall and when you’re bored move to the next wall.” He mutters.

She slaps his shoulder and moves away from him. Murphy finds himself missing her presence once she’s gone. “So much for hopeful” she chides and he shrugs. “You want hopeful? Fine. Someday we’ll get a first-row seat to seeing Earth. You know why? Because once we’re floated, that’s where our dead bodies with eventually float off to”. He doesn’t know why he said it, but once it’s out there’s no going back. She turns to him with mixed emotions on her face. Sadness, despair, anger.

“Shut up, Murphy”.

“Fine, I’m sorry” he sighs, but she shakes her head. “No, you’re not. You’re never sorry for saying stuff like that”. He makes a face and shakes his head. “That’s not true. I am sorry. I just can’t control it. Besides, I’m not exactly in a positive environment here” he insists. She gives him a look.

“Really, I am sorry. Pinky promise” he holds out his pinky finger to her once again and she frowns. “Ugh, just shut up” Clarke mutters as she latches her pinky with his. A smile grows on Murphy’s face and she reluctantly grins as well. That feeling in Murphy’s stomach was back once again, at seeing Clarke’s smile. And the fact that she was smiling at him. It felt like his stomach was a wheelie and 360 flips on him. “What?” she asks. He shrugs, pushing the feeling aside. Now wasn’t the time to get emotional.

“Tell me. It’s obviously something” she says. He shakes his head and turns to her. “It really is nothing. Pinky promise” he lies to her face. Murphy feels bad about it, but it’s better than telling her the truth. With a final doubtful look, Clarke accepts it and nods.

“I’m going back to sleep. What about you?” Clarke asks. Murphy sighs and contemplates his choices. There was stare at the walls, stare out the small window, or go back to sleep. At least in sleep he could leave this box in his dreams. He could be back home, if he could even call it that, or on Earth. It was better than reality, at least.

“Yeah, I’m coming” he murmurs and climbs onto the two conjoined cots. They weren’t comfortable, at all, but it was better than sleeping on the floor. Murphy wraps a lazy arm around Clarke’s waist and pulls her towards him. For warmth, he tells himself. That was why they slept close. For warmth. Even under the thin blankets, it was freezing. With the oxygen supply dwindling, they were already cutting off the heat in the Skybox.

“I’m lucky I got stuck here with you, Griffin” he whispers into Clarke’s shoulder. She scoffs softly at his words, “Yeah? Why is that”.

He thinks about telling her. Telling her that, despite his best efforts, he’s started to care for her. Truly care for her. Dare say like her. Murphy thinks about what it would be like if she cared about him like he cared about her. But that would take him actually telling her first. If only he had the guts for it.

“Because you have the best blankets, obviously” he chokes out. Clarke laughs, but Murphy could hear she didn’t completely believe that was what he wanted to tell her. Which was true, but she didn’t need to know that yet. “Besides, I don’t even think the other boxes have blankets at all. Must be privilege”. Murphy inwardly winces at his words. Probably not the best way to word it.

“Just shut up, Murphy. I’m tired” Clarke yawns, letting his misworded sentence slide. At least for now. “Yeah, right. Sorry” he mutters offhandedly and leaves it at that for the moment.

Murphy is fascinated by how quick Clarke can fall asleep like this. She is in solitary confinement with an asshole like himself, and she can seem at most peace. Yet, here she was, sleeping with ease. It was if all bad memories of the past couple months and this _place_ faded away into just that. Memories.

It doesn’t take him long to fall asleep. But he doesn’t sleep easily. Nightmares and terrors haunt his sleep constantly. It looked like he didn’t have as much luck in the sleep department as Clarke did.

“Murphy, wake up!” he faintly hears Clarke shouting, and he jumps up. “What?” he mutters, and automatically looks around for danger. But all he saw was Clarke sitting across from him on the cots, her legs crisscrossed. He pulls himself into sitting position and copies her in pulling his legs into a crisscrossed position.

“You kept talking in your sleep. Bad… stuff” she mutters and he frowns slightly.

“What kind of stuff?”.

“Just bad stuff, that I don’t want to repeat. Are you ok?” she changes the subject and he shrugs. “You realize how ridiculous that question is, right? The answer to that will always be no”.

Clarke rolls her eyes, but his attempt at sardonic humor was a success because she grants him a small smile. He grins at the sight, and runs a hand through his hair.

“This is getting long” she whispers, brushing her fingers through his hair. He shrugs, trying to ignore the feeling that sat inside him at the feeling of her hands in his hair. It was stupid and he felt like a giggling school girl from one of those chick flicks his mom used to watch. But the feeling wouldn’t go away.

Fuck, he was screwed. And not in the way he wanted to be. If just the sight of this girl’s smile or feeling of her hand made him feel this way, he knew he was in it for the long run. Unless he suddenly caught the hots for one of the Skybox guards, then she was only one for him for a while.

“We’re pretty screwed up, huh?” Clarke mutters. Murphy looks up to her and nods. “Yeah, we are. But it’s cool. We’ll just be fucked up together, right?”.

Clarke nods and lays her head on his shoulder. “Yeah, that sounds good. Together” she whispers against his shoulder and he looks down at her blonde head. She lay there, unaware that her words were making him rethink every action he ever made.

John Murphy may not have known what he was doing, but looking down at Clarke leaning on him, he knew he had to be doing it well. Because anything as beautiful as her, depending on him, had to be a gift from God above anything else.


End file.
